Gifted One-Shots
by Thefinalkey
Summary: As a gift to anyone who reads and enjoys my writing I will write just about any prompt given to me. Chapter 6: Furuya Rei and Shizuka (OC) are married and soon to be parents. Full Prompt in chapter description. Prompt given by LovelySakura777.
1. Chapter 1: Moving on

**Prompter: LovelySakura777 (you beautiful person you!)**

 **Prompt: (Not quite the sentence structure, but what's done is done! And it was a cute idea so that more than made up for it.) I'm hoping the story will be about Shizuka and Amuro/Furuya out on a date after they have defeated the Black Organization and are enjoying each others company freely without worries, meanwhile Shinichi is spying on them after finding out Shizuka has a boyfriend and is going on a date and is worried about her and who the guy is. You know, just to make sure the guys is good to her and being his overprotective self. (Of course they both know he's there and just decide to ignore him and confront him at the end of the date.**

 **Notes: For anyone who doesn't recognize the name, Shizuka is my OC from the story Snapshot. She is Shinichi's older sister. A few parts of this won't make sense if you haven't read it but those are small things that don't affect it too much. Also, Amuro/Furuya and Shizuka are not dating yet! This is how it starts, hope that's okay.**

Shinichi paused in his reading to think over everything he had found out. The plot was seemingly straightforward, but there were random discrepancies that happened too often to be accidents. Filing away everything he knew so far about the main character and their interactions with others he tilted back in the kitchen chair, crossed his ankles, and buried his nose in the book once more.

Twenty minutes later the soft bell-like sound of keys knocking against each other drew his gaze upwards.

Shizuka tucked her house keys into the small purse she had slung over her shoulders. She was wearing a dress he had never seen before; spaghetti strapped, with white at the top that slowly morphed to dark blue as it moved downwards. It came to a stop just above her knees, and he felt his eyebrow tick up when he noticed the dark gray ankle boots she was wearing had a sizeable heel on the end to make her taller. She also had a white scarf wrapped carefully around her neck to cover any traces of the bandages that were undoubtedly under it. Both of his eyebrows reached for his hairline when he noticed the subtle traces of makeup on her face; just enough to make her features more defined and her eyes seem brighter. Her hair was down and curled lightly, reaching the middle of her back now since she had decided to let it grow out the last few months.

"Do you have a case?" he called before he could help himself, narrowing in on the oval-shaped locket on a silver chain around her neck and the matching silver chain bracelet with a small camera charm on it. "I thought we both agreed to take a break."

Everything with the Organization had only been settled a week ago. After the years it had taken to finally pin them down the siblings had agreed to take at least a month long vacation to recuperate. They both needed it, after everything that happened. The antidote Haibara had given him had left his immune system in shambles (even now he could feel a fever creeping back over like clockwork) and his leg still needed to be in a brace for another few days before he could work on any form of rehabilitation. Shizuka was also having difficulties healing. The wound on her throat kept hindering her breathing, and he would often hear her stop to catch her breath when she went up and down the stairs. While her wrist was getting along just fine, her back obviously pained her when she sat down on anything without a soft cushion to ease around it.

"It's not a case," she rasped, rolling her eyes. Her voice came out soft, the words cracking softly as they were forced out. Shinichi's mind automatically traveled back to what Haibara had said ("The chances of her vocal cords ever healing are a million to one. I'd usually say to give up on ever speaking normally again, but I doubt you would listen. Come back when you'd like to try those exercises I mentioned.") before he shook them away.

Shizuka looked at him and laughed breathlessly. "I'm not sneaking off to battle evil Otouto. I was invited out."

"Like a date?" he questioned suspiciously, once again categorizing the careful way she had dressed. Shizuka hated heels of any kind.

She actually paused at that and his suspicions grew. "…I'm not actually sure," she coughed slightly, the sound echoing in her lungs. "Maybe."

"With who?" he dug for information. He knew most, if not all, of his sister's friends and she wasn't one to accept invitations from strangers. One of the officers maybe? That tall girl was always bouncing around her whenever they were together, and the red-haired boy couldn't look at her for more than two seconds before turning into a human tomato. Or the new mailman that he had seen her talking to in the mornings on occasion. Maybe Ikezawa or Okino? He didn't think they held any interest towards his sister, or that she had any in them, but Shizuka was unlikely to pursue any interests while they were fighting against the Organization. Besides, he hadn't thought she would be interested in dating at _all_ ever since he learned about-

"I don't feel like saying," she cut off his trail of thoughts with a smirk. "I doubt you would approve anyway."

Shinichi felt his eye twitch. That didn't sound good. Who on earth could she possibly be seeing that he would actually oppose? Not that detective wannabe; she hated him as much as she did. Kid maybe? But even if he would have preferred someone less danger inducing as his sister's partner he wouldn't have gotten in the way. Kid had proved himself trustworthy enough after the takedown.

"Don't think too hard Shinichi," she laughed awkwardly again, her breath catching in her throat. "It might not even be a date. I didn't exactly ask for specifics."

"And yet you dressed up for it," he pointed out. His book was long forgotten on the table in front of him.

She shrugged. "They said it might be fancy."

" _What_ might be fancy?"

"Goodbye Shinichi," she waved lazily, ignoring his question as she walked away.

He sat there, dumbstruck, until the faint sound of the front door clicking shut jolted him back into action. Scrambling for the black cane laid out on the chair next to him he hobbled after her.

Shizuka could take care of herself. _Usually._ If she thought he wouldn't approve of whoever she was seeing it would only be because he would think that person could be dangerous. She wasn't back in fighting form, not even close. If whoever she was with took advantage of that…

They had barely made it through everything alive already. It was a _miracle_ that the people they had tried so hard to protect were even safe. He would be damned if he let something happen now.

-00-

Shizuka tilted her head curiously when they turned towards the park.

"I thought you said it might be fancy," she commented, grateful for their slow gait. Any faster and she would be out of breath in a matter of minutes. From _walking._

What a pain in the ass.

"Parks can be fancy," Furuya Rei (aka Amuro Tooru) grinned back innocently. He had a large black jacket on, zipped up all the way to his neck, and a standard pair of blue jeans with white sneakers.

She normally would have hummed skeptically, but with her throat as it was she settled for leveling him with a blank stare.

"Or," his grin turned sharp, "maybe I just wanted to see you in a dress."

She blinked once, unimpressed. "I wore heels Amuro. If I had known we would be walking I would have picked something else."

"I was wondering about that," his gaze drifted downwards and she would have smacked him if he didn't look back up right away. "Is that because I teased you about your height?"

"No," she smiled, "it was so I could stomp on your feet if you tried anything."

He took a half step away from her, face twisting slightly. His feet were more sensitive than he cared to admit.

"I'll be the perfect gentlemen," he promised, ignoring the amused and disbelieving glint in her eyes. "And I told you that you could call me Rei. Not many people get that privilege anymore you know."

"Which is exactly why I didn't," she shot back, motioning for him to slow down more. He did so without question, stepping closer again as they made their way under the trees along the path. "Why exactly did you ask me here?"

"I'll get to that," he promised before extending his arm out. "But for now, would you care to take a walk with me?"

She looked to his face, to his arm, and back. "We're already walking," she pointed out while taking his proffered arm in her own.

He smiled brightly instead of answering, to which she simply shook her head and looked around the park as they went. There was a taste of rain in the air, but the clouds were far enough away that she didn't bother to worry about being caught in it. A few families were scattered about the playground at the center, while the occasional jogger or couple passed them by every few minutes.

After about ten minutes her throat began to tighten uncomfortably. Amuro tugged at her arm lightly to gain her attention. When she looked up (the heels at least made a dent damnit) he motioned towards a bench coming up along the side.

"Let's take a break there."

She scanned him over, searching for any pity that might show. He looked back at her knowingly, but his gaze was clear.

"Sure," she sighed softly.

He let her lead the two of them over, but when she moved to sit down, he stopped her.

"Just a second," he uncurled his arm from hers and slipped off the heavy jacket from his shoulders leaving him in a form fitting, red short sleeved shirt. Laying it over the front of the bench where her back would be when she sat down he plopped down next to it and patted the wood in invitation.

Shizuka blinked, pleasantly surprised. She had thought it was odd that he was wearing such a warm looking coat. The air had a chill in it, no doubt, but even in her dress the temperature was manageable.

"Thank you," she offered him a small, grateful smile. He returned it readily.

As her back settled comfortably against the blissfully cushioned fabric, she tucked her ankles underneath the bench and shifted her purse to the side opposite of him.

"I came to this park once when I was a kid," Amuro started suddenly, looking out over the green field in front of the playground with a nostalgic expression. "I got into a fight with a few other kids that were bullying a cat over by the slide."

She followed his gaze, settling further into the jacket. The strong scent of cinnamon and coffee wafted up to her nose.

"Did you get into fights a lot?" she asked curiously.

He laughed. "All the time. I had a bit of temper back then."

"I don't think it has faded as much as you seem to think it has," she noted. She had seen him angry plenty of times, and while he handled it well while keeping it mostly under control, it was clear that he had a lot of it.

"I guess," his answer was softer, not offended by the blunt response. He suddenly chuckled, turning to focus his attention on her. "Not many people would tell me that to my face."

She threw him an amused glance but kept her focus on the kids playing on the swings. Shinichi used to challenge her to see who could reach the highest point. "I have been told that I am a bit of an… oddball."

"That's a nice way of putting it."

She smacked his shoulder warningly, but his eyes were teasing when she finally looked at him.

She froze when his gaze suddenly turned serious. The creases around his mouth and eyes were still relaxed, but his stare was sincere.

"I like that you're an oddball."

The warm tone of his voice made the tips of her ears flush. Refusing to break eye contact now, as though a challenge had been offered, she fiddled lightly with the scarf around her throat.

"…Why did you ask me to come here?"

He twisted to face her more fully, leaving a bit more space between them but making it feel more intimate than before.

"Would you believe me if I said it was because I wanted to go on a date with a smart, beautiful woman?"

Shizuka sent a mental punch to her heart when it stuttered. Words would not sway her that easily.

"Perhaps," she spoke slowly, cursing the crack at the end. Stupid vocal cords. "But you know a lot of smart, beautiful women. I wanted to know why you asked _me_ to come here."

She scowled at the flash of affection that crossed over his features. Shifting self-consciously in her spot she twisted the soft ends of her scarf between her fingers.

"Because none of them," he waved his hand around as though to point out a group of people, "are _you._ I'll admit, the first time we met I didn't like you."

Shizuka would have snorted if it wouldn't have sent her into a painful coughing fit.

This time he looked a bit sheepish. "It wasn't anything personal. You were just… very nosy and, as you know, I had a lot of things I didn't want anyone knowing about. Your brother was fine, he was a kid and I didn't think he could actually do much," which they both agreed was his biggest mistake, "but you had a lot of influence behind you that could put me in a tight spot if I wasn't careful. The challenge was fun, but the repercussions of losing were too big. Especially when I realized that I might actually lose."

Shizuka allowed herself a moment to feel smug. She worked hard to be good at what she does; some self-pride was well earned.

Amuro tucked his leg up to lay flat across the bench so he could rest his hands on it. It brushed the sides of her leg, making her twitch, but she didn't bother moving away.

"Once everything started coming together more," he looked at his hands speculatively, "and we started actually working together more the consequences of you learning anything about me started to matter less. I realized that while I enjoyed the challenge of working against you, working with you was more… fun," he settled on.

Shizuka would agree with that much, at least. Once she was sure that Amuro wasn't going to kill her brother and the tension between them started to die down she would often team up with him to track down new leads and information. Having someone at her back with his level of skill had been both a comfort and entertaining.

"It wasn't all bad," she said instead, eyebrow twitching when he smirked.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly, "after all it's not everyday you get felt up in the closet of a club."

Shizuka felt the blood in her face burn. "I wasn't _feeling you up_! I was trying to pick the lock and you got in the way!"

The insistent statement was ruined by the way her voice kept cutting in and out as she defended herself. By the end her throat was tight and her ability to breath became difficult.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, putting his hands up in surrender. "May I?"

Shizuka glared at him when he pointed towards her throat and she was about to vehemently disagree when she caught the worried crease across his forehead. Debating internally for a moment she gave in. If he knew how to relieve the pain in her throat then at least he would be doing something other than trying to embarrass her.

Tipping her chin up as an invitation she fought the automatic reaction to flinch when his fingers brushed against her skin.

He moved slowly, broadcasting his movements so she wouldn't panic. The care was appreciated.

Unwinding her scarf carefully he slowly undid the bandages wrapped securely around her throat. She didn't look at him when the bright red laceration was revealed. The stitches were still securely in place, but she had always thought the little strings made everything look even worse.

Amuro was silent for a long while before his middle and index fingers began kneading carefully along spots below the cut. Slowly but surely she could feel the pressure around her windpipe lessen until she could breath with relative ease.

"I didn't realize it had come so close," he murmured quietly, fingers hovering uncertainly over the wound.

"Kudo's are hard to kill, as it turns out," was her poor attempt to lighten the mood. This was one of the main reasons she didn't like anyone seeing her throat. When her mother had walked in on her while she was changing the bandages a few days ago Yukiko's face had crumpled immediately and it had taken over an hour to calm her down.

"But not impossible," Amuro's frown was heavily lined. Hooking his thumbs over the edges of her jaw he gently angled her head down so they were eye to eye once more. Once he was sure he had her attention he pulled his hands back. "I enjoy your company," he stated abruptly. "I respect your talent and admire the incredible resolve you hold in everything you do. You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met and I would be honored if you would give me the chance to see more of your life."

Shizuka could feel her eyes threaten to pop right out of her head. She had been joking when she told Shinichi she might be going on a date. Amuro would often call her out when he wanted her opinion on something, and the teasing was always par for the course. Never anything serious.

At least she had thought.

"W-why all of this now?" she stuttered out, and her damaged vocal cords were not entirely to blame for the staggered cracking of her voice this time.

Amuro sighed, lifting his hands so he could look at them. He stared at them as though they might hold the answers to everything he would ever want to know. "I planned on never actually getting involved with anyone. Too much risk, too many dangers. Even if I could find someone I could trust to keep my secrets I wouldn't be able to handle putting them in danger all of the time."

The reasoning was uncomfortably familiar.

"Then I learned what happened with you," he said slowly, gauging her reaction. Shizuka gave none. She had been expecting it to pop up at some point, and she was finally starting to make her peace with what had happened. "And I thought that was just more proof that I had made the right choice."

"What-" Shizuka had to stop to clear her throat. It hurt. "What changed your mind?"

"Your brother, actually," he lips turned up half-heartedly. "I asked him why he put himself through so much for Ran-san, and why he was willing to force so much upon her as well."

A droplet of rain landed on the tip of Shizuka's nose, startling her. She hadn't realized they had been there for so long, but the genuine look of hope on Amuro's face kept her rooted in her place.

"He looked at me like I was an idiot," he huffed. "Told me that for being a genius I didn't notice very much. Apparently, if you care about someone, pushing them away only fills you with more regrets. If they die it won't hurt less because pretended to care less. You just hate yourself for not giving them the time they deserved while they were alive."

Shizuka swallowed heavily, closing her eyes. A picutre of a warm, sunny smile crossed her mind.

She missed him. Losing him had hurt. More than anything she had ever felt in her life. The pain in her neck, her back, the times she had been shot before, nothing could compare to the hole he had left in her life. And she had always wished she could go back in time and stop herself from befriending him. Never drag him into danger alongside her. It was only recently that she realized she would never have been able to bring herself to do that. Not after she remembered everything he had said. All of his smiles, and laughter. He had been happy. For whatever it was worth, he had been happy to have her in his life and she refused to keep disrespecting his memory by refusing to believe he had loved her enough to believe she deserved saving.

"So," Amuro spoke after a long silence, breaking her out of her train of thought, "I decided to give it a shot. I don't think I could handle caring about you and then having you die on me," he stated honestly. "But the idea of having you in my life… seems worth it."

The breath was knocked out of her lungs. She wasn't worth it. She would never be worth it, not in her eyes.

But Amuro's… Rei's eyes were not hers. His eyes had not been hers either.

"I probably won't take no for an answer, by the way," his tone seemed more rushed. Unsure. "This morning I thought I would just walk away if you said you couldn't, but now that we're actually here and I've gotten all of this off my chest I don't think I can give up on it."

Shizuka wheezed out a laugh, her eyes burning. "You two-" she choked, shaking her head despairingly. "You two are more alike than I thought."

He seemed confused about how to take that so she reached out and wrapped her thin fingers around his hands.

"I can't say yes," she croaked, grip tightening when he opened his mouth. "Not yet. I'm just starting to move on. But… I'm not saying no either. I'm willing to give it a chance at least. Would you-" she rolled the words around in her head, struggling to find the best way to say them. "Would you like to join me for dinner Rei?"

Not quite what she wanted to say. But the hopeful grin she got in return was worth it.

"Of course," he turned his palm over in hers, lifting her hand up and laying a kiss across her knuckles. "Although I don't think your brother will be too happy to see me."

Shizuka chuckled, massaging around the stitches in her throat. "He'll have to deal with it. He owes me for following us anyway."

Rei tossed a look towards the trees behind them. A familiar curl of black hair stuck out from the pine tree on the far left.

"We should probably go back soon then. His leg must be hurting horribly after all this time."

She smiled softly. "Yeah. Let's go Rei."

They stood together, Shizuka hesitating before taking his hand as they walked back. She wasn't ready to let go. Not yet. But she had people to help her. Her friends, her brother, her family…

And Rei now, she supposed. As his fingers twined together with her own she felt a sizeable weight lift off her shoulders.

Avelia was so going to cry when she told him.

 **Aaannddd done. I had never actually thought about pairing Shizuka with Rei, but gosh darn it it's adorable. None of this is guaranteed canon for Snapshot by the by (such as injuries and such) but it might be. Maybe. We'll see. ;p**

 **Hope you all enjoyed! Especially you LovelySakura777! I hope it lived up to what you wanted!**

 **If anyone else would like to ask for a pairing or prompt (from just about any fandom and pairing) check out my profile for the details. These are gifts for those that read my works and like them, so I'll try my best to make them well!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **(p.s. What did you guys think of Rei. I tried to get his character right but I'm not sure how well I did.)**


	2. Chapter 2: Siblings

**Prompter: Eion1783**

 **Prompt: Shizua is undercover and has to flirt to get information and Conan catches her in the act and is not pleased about it.**

 **Notes: The name of the guy she flirts with has a Detective Conan pun in it. Can you figure out who he's standing in for (I didn't make it very hard, haha).**

 **-00-**

Shinichi groaned when Sonoko's voice reached a pitch unnatural to most human beings. Ran had dragged him along to their lunch outing since Kogoro was away on a case (which actually meant going out for drinks, he just didn't want Ran getting mad at him). Once the girls had started catching up he was pushed to the back of their minds but he still had to sit through all of their chattering. Normally he would have been able to escape using Shizuka as an excuse but she had been gone when they had dropped by that morning and Agasa was out of town for some invention convention. He had been pretty sure she was supposed to have the day off but something must have pulled her from the house.

Which meant he was stuck. While Ran urged Sonoko to continue her story about some explosion in chemistry she had caused when she tried to create a 'love potion' (seriously? Had she actually thought that would work?) he scanned over the other patrons in the café. None of them seemed out of the ordinary; just a collection of relaxed friends, couples, and the occasional stressed student. Snagging his water off the table he sipped at it when the bell from the door grabbed his attention.

Shizuka walked in with a hand halfway to her mouth in an attempt to smother her yawn. She was wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans, which meant she couldn't have been down at the station. She never wore hoodies at work unless it was freezing.

Approaching the counter she ordered a plain black coffee and pulled money out of her front pockets (which explained why she wasn't carrying around a bag. It was odd to see her without her camera though). Mumbling a soft thanks to the cashier she tucked herself into the far corner of the café and pulled out her phone. Unraveling a pair of headphones from her pockets she plugged them in a placed each bud in her ear.

Shinichi reached over and tugged on Ran's sleeve with a tooth filled grin. Freedom was so close!

"Hm?" Ran looked down at him curiously. "What is it Conan-chan?"

"Look!" he pointed childishly at his sister. "It's Shizuka-neechan!"

Ran followed his finger and smiled happily. "Oh! It is! I wonder what she's doing here?"

He honestly could not care less right now. They had already been there for two hours and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. "Can I go say hi?"

She laughed at his excitement. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind. You must be bored sitting here anyway. But you have to either stay with her or come sit back with us okay?"

Like hell he would come back. He loved Ran but there was only so much squealing he could take.

"Okay!"

Hopping off his chair he ducked and weaved through the few people in his way. Shizuka had yet to look up, too focused on whatever she was reading.

"Shizu-!"

"Excuse me," a deep voice called. Shinichi nearly fell over when someone stepped in front of him and he had to skid to a stop.

Shizuka looked up from her phone with one eyebrow raised but her attention wasn't on her small brother.

"Is this seat taken?" the tall man smiled charmingly. His short brown hair was ruffled by the wind from outside and his button up green shirt was slightly askew. If Shinichi had to guess he would say he was in his late twenties.

Shizuka blinked up at him slowly before casting a glance at the tables around them. Most of them were full.

"Go ahead," she motioned towards the chair across from her with her phone.

Shinichi frowned with slight irritation at being stopped but brushed it off. About to call out for his sister's attention once again his gaze caught on the bag the man was carrying as he set it down next to his chair.

From his current height (being a kid had some advantages at least) he could see a small bit underneath the flap. The familiar shine of a round metal cylinder flashed across his eyes.

The stranger had a gun.

It was entirely possible that it was legally owned. Or perhaps the man had a profession that required a firearm such as being a police officer.

Kudo luck was rarely so kind.

Shinichi skipped back and tucked himself underneath the small overhang on the main counter. He could be seen by some of the patrons near the windows but he was out of sight of both Ran and his sister while still being able to see them.

"Thanks," the man chuckled, his voice warm. Shizuka leaned back a bit when he suddenly thrust his hand across the table for a handshake. "I'm Voka Jin."

"…Shizuka," she offered as she accepted the handshake.

Jin held on for a moment longer than was necessary before drawing back. "Just Shizuka?"

"Just Shizuka."

He laughed. "That must make awkward introductions easier huh?"

She seemed confused about why he was still talking to her but took it in stride. "Most of the time. I travel often and it makes adjusting to new areas easier."

"Travel huh?" he scooted his chair forwards a bit and wrapped his hands around his steaming mug of tea. "Is that because of a job or just for fun?"

Shizuka's finger tapped absentmindedly against her drink. She had always hated small talk but for some reason she was still humoring the stranger. Perhaps she sensed something off about him? Shinichi hoped so. It would be easier to figure out the man's motives if she was doing the same.

"Both," she replied shortly. Her lips twisted to the side slightly as she hesitated. "I… travel for my job but once it's over I stay for a while longer to explore. My parents used to take me on their trips when I was younger but they travel _too_ often in my opinion."

"I can only imagine the experiences you would get from traveling all the time," his light brown eyes seemed wistful. "I've only been to England before, but I can't really afford to go anywhere else."

"That's a shame," she sipped at her coffee. "Perhaps you will get the opportunity to soon."

He grinned. "I hope so. Although I can't imagine leaving forever. There are some pretty amazing things here too after all."

"Like what," she humored him. It was clear he wanted to drag the conversation on longer.

"Well," he leaned back in his chair as he thought, one hand idly tapping out a beat along the wood of the table, "there's the food. I've never really enjoyed foreign meals. And Beika is beautiful practically all year round. " His smile suddenly tilted up and he sent her a pointed look. "And, of course, the company that can't be beat."

Shinichi gaped when Shizuka flushed a bit at the remark.

"Ah," she looked away. Jin laughed when she busied herself with her coffee again.

"Sorry," he waved his hand in front of his face, eyes bright. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. But I meant what I said. If we weren't already in a café I would have already asked you out for a drink sometime."

"Skipping ahead then?" she smirked, peering at him from over the rim of her mug.

What the hell was he watching right now? She wasn't… she wasn't interested in him was she? He could be _murderer!_ Didn't she notice anything off about this guy?!

"Well," he drew out the word. Leaning forwards he dropped his voice and Shinichi had to lean forwards to hear them better. "If this could be considered the first date then the second would involve dinner of course."

Shizuka set down her drink, matching his softer tone with a more mischievous one of her own. "It is almost dinner time. Planning on two dates in one day? That's a bit of an over achievement."

"It could still count as just one," he countered. "That is, if this is in fact a good enough start to keep going. I know a little restaurant out of the way. Great mood, good food, and a little quieter."

She hummed in the back of her throat. "Throw in a flower and I might consider it."

Shinichi's eye twitched. He didn't know whether to be disgusted that he was watching his sister _flirt_ or horrified that the object of her flirtations was quite possibly a psychopath and she didn't even seem to realize it.

"I'll pick one up on the way," he pushed his chair back a bit and offered his hand. "It's a bit of a walk, unless you have a car."

"I don't have a car," she replied simply. When she slipped her hand into his Shinichi rushed forwards.

The kid at the table next to them pushed his chair out, knocking into him and sending him tumbling down for a second. Scrambling back to his feet he narrowed in on the man leading his sister towards the door. The place was too crowded. He couldn't fire off a soccer ball here.

Jin pushed open the door, holding it open with a flourish. Shizuka rolled her eyes but she seemed amused. Shinichi trailed after them. Once they reached the sidewalk he would be able to make his move.

"So where is this 'little restaurant'?" Shizuka's voice floated back to him as he ducked behind the bushes lining the outside of the café. It was the lunch hour, which meant the sidewalk was filled with people hurrying along during their breaks. While he couldn't find an opening to take out the asshole it at least made it easier to follow them.

"Not too far," Jin shrugged nonchalantly. Shinichi's eyes narrowed in on his hand when it brushed over the top of his bag. Shizuka hadn't seen it, and even if she had she didn't know what was in there. "Trust me enough for a surprise?"

She pursed her lips. "…I guess. But if it's a dive bar my expectations will be far lower and you will have to work three times as hard."

Jin laughed boisterously. "You'll just have to wait and see then. I can guarantee it's not a dive bar though."

Shinichi tailed them for twenty minutes. The entire time Jin kept up a constant stream of conversation. At some point he had reached out and rested his arm around Shizuka's shoulders (which she had yet to push off damn it) and Shinichi could feel anger start bubbling up in his stomach. If this man did turn out to be a killer, and he was tricking his sister into following him like this, then he would turn his shoes on to the highest level and aim for his face. Or maybe just below the belt would get the point across better.

Jin pointed at something across the street, tugging the small woman closer until she was tucked directly against his side.

Both it is.

"Here," Jin suddenly turned to the left. "I know a short cut."

Shizuka looked at the small alleyway with one of the most unimpressed looks he had ever seen on her face before. "I'm pretty sure it's a rule not to follow strangers down alleyways. Especially on the first date."

 _'Finally!'_ Shinichi cheered mentally. It was about time she started realizing something was off.

"Smart rule," Jin agreed. "But to be fair the sun will set in a few minutes and it'll rain soon. Shouldn't it also be a rule not to walk along the streets with a stranger when it's dark?" He chuckled at the blank stare sent his way. "If it makes you feel any better I could go first and walk pretty far ahead."

"No," she sighed. "It's fine. You don't look the killer type any way."

It could have been a trick of the light but Jin's expression seemed to darken for a split second before the amiable smile was back in place.

"Let's go then, shall we?"

"We shall."

Shinichi wanted to pull out his hair. What was she _thinking_?! A little old woman could be the killer type, let alone a young adult man who escorted dates through alleys like it was a normal thing to do!

Rushing after them he caught sight of them turning into yet another off shoot midway through the alleyway. Jin continued talking to keep the air light but the areas started looking more and more abandoned as they went.

"Ah," Shizuka stopped suddenly and Shinichi felt hope bloom in his chest. "Hold on, I dropped something."

"Take your time," Jin leaned back against the wall as she knelt down to look along the ground. She pulled out her phone and flicked a button on the side to turn on the flashlight.

While she squinted at the concrete below her Jin casually undid the clasp keeping his bag closed.

Shinichi's heart pounded in his chest. Hitting the button on his belt to release a soccer ball he reached down and twisted the dial on his shoes all the way around. The light from the electric charge reflected off his glasses brightly but he ignored it. He was too far away for them to notice it anyway. When Jin began to pull out the pistol with a smirk on his face, he kicked the ball as hard as he could.

Shizuka whipped around, the top of her phone pointed directly at Jin's chest and the loud buzzing sound of a taser filled the air.

The soccer ball smashed into the side of Jin's head before ricocheting off his face…

And into Shizuka's

"Fuck!" she cried when her nose twisted to the side with a loud ' _crack'_.and she was flung against the wall with the momentum. Jin was in a heap on the floor groaning but he was aware enough to reach out for the gun that had landed at his side. Shizuka stomped on his hand angrily and smashed her phone into his shoulders. He spasmed shortly, gasping for air, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted.

Breathing heavily Shizuka whirled around, taser phone at the ready. When she saw the slowly deflating soccer ball her eyes widened in realization.

" _ **Shinichi,"**_ she growled menacingly.

"U-uh," he stuttered, foot still raised in the air. Lowering it to the ground he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "H-hey Shizu. Are you, uh, okay?"

He winced when a thick trail of blood started pouring from her nose.

"Am I _okay?"_ she hissed while yanking a pair of handcuffs out of the hood of her hoodie. Twisting Jin's arms behind him and snapping them into place she started to march towards him. "Do I _look_ okay? What the fuck Shinichi?! You broke my nose!"

"I thought he was going to shoot you!" he defended himself while stepping back swiftly. "I didn't think you knew what he was up to so I followed you and-!"

"Why would I follow someone I had never met before down an alleyway!" she stated it more like a fact than anything. For every step she took he took two back.

"I don't know! That's what I was asking myself but I couldn't just sit around and think about it when I knew what he was planning on doing!"

His back hit the wall and suddenly she was looming over him (which was definitely not something he thought he would ever see. He really missed his former height suddenly).

"How long have you been following us?" she glared down at him.

"Since the café," he gulped. "I kept thinking you would realize something was wrong with him but it looked like you never noticed so I followed to make sure you were okay."

"You didn't know I was faking it the whole time?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"If I had known do you think I would be here?" he glared right back.

"Yes," she crossed her arms. Suddenly the anger drained from her posture to be replaced with smug accomplishment. "I guess I'm a better actor than I thought if I could even fool you."

"That's what you're focusing on," he demanded.

Her eyebrows narrowed, making her already slanted eyes sharper. "I'm sorry would you prefer I focus on my _nose_?"

She had a point. "No," he rushed, arms swinging up behind his head when she stepped back towards the downed criminal. "…Sorry about that though."

She shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time, probably won't be the last. What _will_ be the last time is you following me without telling me."

"How can I follow you if you know I'm there?" he grinned when she glared at him.

"Shut it brat. And make yourself scarce. I'm calling Inspector Megure and I would rather not explain how you got dragged into all of this."

"Speaking of which," he gestured towards the lump on the ground. "What exactly is 'all this'?"

"There was a string of murders in England a few weeks ago," Shizuka held her sleeve to her nose in an attempt to slow the bleeding. The hoodie was obviously not an important one, he guessed. "The guy that did it escaped and we started seeing similar murders here. We narrowed it down to this asshole, but we didn't have any proof yet so I volunteered to find some."

He rolled his eyes. "So of course you made sure you were the next target. Smart move sis."

"Black Organization."

That was a low blow.

"Seriously Shinichi, scram. I'm mostly okay," she gave a pointed look and he looked away, "and he won't be waking up for quite some time. Plenty of time for the police to arrive."

"Fine. You have to take me home though," he informed her. Her expression showed exactly what she thought about that. "Ran probably thinks I'm with you, since she saw you there too. I'd rather not get a lecture."

"I'd rather not be bleeding," she muttered under her breath. Once she tapped her phone to retract the prongs of the taser she sighed. "Fine. Go out that way and wait across the street at the park. I'll be there as soon as I'm done."

"Thanks Shizuka-neechan!" he chirped brightly, his pitch rising. He laughed at the disgusted look on her face.

The distant sound of a police siren prompted him to leave before they could start bickering again. Once he was far enough away he let out the relieved sigh he had been holding back.

Of course Shizuka could take care of herself, he knew that. They had been raised to handle just about anything the world threw at them. But people died every day no matter how prepared they were. Knowing she was safe, due to his intervention or not, took a large weight off his shoulders.

The park was mostly empty, seeing as how the sun had set just moments before. Choosing a bench out of the way but visible from the entrance he stretched out and looked up at the sky.

He'd have to buy her some of those mint chocolates she loved so much to make up for her nose.

Maybe she'd share.

 **Poor Shizuka's nose. Hopefully it heals fast;p**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you all liked it (especially you Eion1783!). Let me know what you thought!**

 **Next prompt coming up in a bit!**


	3. Chapter 3: Sweet Revenge

**Prompter: OTrizy (Huzzah for OTrizy for filling my head with cute ideas!)**

 **Prompt: Not-so-first-meeting, low-key flirting, mainly for reacquaintance but also to embarrass Conan/Avelia or everyone.**

 **Pairing: Shizuka (personal OC)/Natasha Romanoff (Avengers)**

 **Notes: Avelia isn't in this one, but he'll be in the next one-shot I have for this prompt. This is set after the BO has been taken down and Shinichi and Ran are in a stable relationship now.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-00-**

"Aghhh!" Shizuka cried, flinging herself back and as far away from the door as she could get.

"Shizuka?!" Shinichi and Ran shrieked from where she had left them.

"Are you _kidding me?!_ " she kicked the door to the library closed harshly. "This is the fourth fucking time! I never even go to your room Shinichi, why can't you do it there?!"

"T-that's none of your business," he voice cracked with embarrassment.

"It is when I keep seeing it!" she punched the door, her face red from humiliation. "I don't want to see that dumbass!"

"We don't want you to see it!" he yelled back.

Shizuka could just barely make out Ran's mutters in the background, although she couldn't quite tell what she was saying. "If you don't want to be seen then leave it in the bedroom! Like _normal_ people!"

"Shut up!"

"Ugh!"

Throwing her hands up in the air Shizuka stormed away to look for her keys. She wouldn't be going in there for a long, _long_ time so the Professor's library would have to do for the research she needed to do on her latest case. Seriously, she was happy her brother and his long time lady love had finally stopped tip toeing around each other but could they at least try to remember that other people lived there too? Common decency was not a lost art!

"Oh, Shizuka!" Agasa greeted her when she stomped in. His mustache twitched curiously when he noticed the red tinge to her cheeks. "Is something wrong?"

"Is there a way to permanently burn certain memories from your brain?" she asked, voice dead serious.

"I know a few ways," Haibara spoke up from where she was peering through a microscope at the far desk. "There are some side affects though."

"Give me a list and I'll think about it," she pleaded. "Until then, I don't want to talk about it. Professor, can I use your library?"

Agasa blinked rapidly, trying to process what was going on. "…Of course? My home is always open to you Shizuka."

"Thanks," she lifted her hand in a short wave as she disappeared down the hall.

Agasa looked over at the small scientist who had yet to look up. "What was that about?"

"Young love isn't always a good thing, would be my guess," she smirked.

Agasa's confusion only grew, turning to trepidation when he noticed her reaching for one of her research books based on the human brain. Oh, he hoped she was joking about memory removal.

-00-

Shizuka scowled when her phone vibrated on the table next to her. She had been doing an excellent job of distracting herself, but every time something pulled her attention away from the book in front of her the horrifying images from earlier would flash past her eyes once more.

Grumbling under her breath she flicked her phone on and checked the most recent message.

NR: I'll be in Beika for a few days and I need a place to stay. Offer still on the table?

It took her a few moments to realize who was texting her. Once her brain finally kicked back into gear she let her fingers drift over the keys.

SK: Of course, although I hate to ask what kind of trouble you're bringing with you. Which room will you need?

NR: No trouble, just need to get away for a bit. The spare guest room would be fine.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. It wasn't all that long ago that the Black Organization had been taken down again, she didn't want to go up against another big threat for a long time still.

SK: Need a ride from the airport?

NR: You have a car?

SK: Bike. It was a gift.

NR: Sure. I'll be there in five hours.

SK: One day you're going to ask for a favor at least 24 hours before you need it done.

NR: We'll see. I'll text when I'm off the plane.

SK: Fly safe. See you soon.

Sending off the last message Shizuka leaned back in her chair and breathed heavily through her nose. Things were about to get a whole lot more interesting.

-00-

Natasha Romanoff sent a long, judging look at the private investigator waiting for her outside the airport. Her dark red hair was tied up in a ponytail and stuffed under a simple black baseball cap. Her gray jacket was zipped up over her light green tank top and her black pants were rolled up to just above her knees.

"What?" Shizuka tilted her head as though she had no idea what was wrong.

"You know," she hefted her small duffel bag over her shoulder, "when you said you had a bike I was expecting something with a motor."

Shizuka patted the handlebars of her dark blue road bicycle. "This gets me places just fine thank you very much."

"How'd you know I wouldn't have a suitcase?"

It was Shizuka's turn to look at her oddly and she huffed.

"Fair enough. Scoot forward."

Once Shizuka had left enough space Natasha hopped up onto the spikes on the back and placed her hands on the smaller woman's shoulders. The smooth fabric of her long sleeved, blue shirt bunched between her fingers as she shifted to get comfortable.

Shizuka pushed off from the curb with little prompting and started pedaling to take them to her house.

"Just so you know," she called back to her passenger over the slight wind, "my brother is at home again and now he has a girlfriend that lives just across the street."

Natasha snorted. "Let me guess. You walked in on them at least three different times."

"Four, counting this morning," she grimaced. "No room is safe, except for mine thank Kami."

"Even the library?" Natasha felt her eyebrow rise.

"Even the library. I don't even want to go in there anymore, regardless of they're home or not!"

Natasha hummed thoughtfully but the sound was lost to the wind. The rest of the trip was done in silence. Shizuka was glad most of the ground was and all of the dips they had to take went down (going up them to get to the airport in the first place had been a trial all on its own).

Once the Kudo mansion appeared around another corner, she pulled up next to it and let Natasha hop off.

"Here are the keys," she tossed them to her and Natasha caught them without looking. Show off. "Go ahead and make yourself at home while I put this away."

"Thanks."

Shizuka nodded, stepping off to walk the bike towards the garage (that held no cars. Why did they even have a garage?). She was stopped when Natasha grabbed her shoulder to get her attention.

"Thanks," she repeated, the lines around her eyes outlined more clearly now that they were face to face.

Shizuka smiled. "I'm just giving you a place to sleep. You want more than that you're going to have to ask a lot nicer."

Natasha laughed a small, soft sound. Shaking her head she let the investigator go and walked towards the house. Shizuka waved, knowing she would be able to tell even though she wasn't looking.

Taking care of the bike was easy enough and within a few minutes she was joining Natasha on the couch, channel surfing through the various stations available.

"So dramatic," Natasha smirked when a woman smashed a tray over her husband's head for laughing at her dress.

"It's a drama," Shizuka pointed out. "It's supposed to be dramatic."

Natasha grunted in reply before changing the channel yet again. This went on for about two hours before she broke the silence again.

"You don't want to know why I'm here?"

"Sure I do," Shizuka lifted the armrest on her side to reveal a hidden cubby filled with snacks. Picking out a bag of trail mix she pinched a few pieces between her fingers and tossed them in her mouth. "But it's your business. If you want me to know, I'll listen. If not I'll keep an eye out for anything dangerous and only intervene if you need help."

"You'll intervene?" One of Natasha's sculpted brows arched over her eye.

Shizuka returned the look, flicking a raisin up and catching it on her tongue. "My job is to help and protect everyone I see that needs it. Last I checked, you're included in 'everyone'."

"Not when I looked," Natasha sighed in a rare moment of depreciation.

"Better check again," she offered the trail mix. Natasha grabbed a large handful, taking almost half the bag. "Don't be an ass."

The red head huffed out a laugh. There hadn't been any tension in her body before hand, not that Shizuka could tell, but the air around her seemed to lighten up a bit which meant they were on the right track.

"I'm home!" her brother's voice echoed through the hallway.

Shizuka nearly choked when Natasha flipped over to settle in her lap like an overgrown cat.

"…What are you doing?"

"Take off your shirt," Natasha said as though she were commenting on the weather.

Shizuka could only stare as she then proceeded to strip out of _her_ shirt like it was the most natural thing in the world, leaving her in a dark black bra.

"Maybe your brother will learn to respect the other people in this house if he gets a taste of his own medicine," Natasha explained easily, settling back so she had enough room to move.

Shizuka thought about it. It could work. And the chance to see the mortified expression on her brother's face that he had forced her to wear for weeks would be a wonderful sight to behold.

Shrugging, she shifted around and tugged her shirt over her head. She glared when Natasha snorted.

"Shut it," she grumbled, refusing to feel self-conscious about her bunny print bra. "I won a full set of animal print stuff in a contest."

"You hate contests."

"It was for a case."

"Shizu? Is someone else here?" his voice was tense. It wasn't surprising. They were both more paranoid after everything that had happened.

Natasha let her hair down quickly and leaned over Shizuka so that her hair covered both of their faces and made their position look even more compromising.

The door slid open.

The pitch of her brother's screech would be recorded as one of the highest pitched sounds a fully-grown man had ever made in the history of the world.

When he stumbled back, acting as though he had been burned, Shizuka couldn't help herself. Loud peals of cackles tore through her throat, regularly interrupted by snorts when she inhaled too fast. Natasha chuckled above her, slowly rolling off to the side so she could get a clear view of her brother.

Shinichi was bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears. He had fallen over in his scramble backward and was now trying to crab walk away but his arms were trembling with embarrassment and he kept falling.

Shizuka laughed even harder. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes and she had to curl in on herself to stop the ache that was building in her chest from the bursts of air leaving her lungs at high speed. It felt like an hour before she could breathe normally again, although it could have only been a few minutes. When she managed to look up and wipe the tears from her eyes, Shinichi was gone and Natasha was channel surfing again with her shirt back in place. As Shizuka hiccupped the last of her laughter away the amused red head tossed her the shirt she had left discarded on the floor.

"T-thank you," she breathed deeply, attempting to forcibly slow her heart back to a regular pulse. "That was- that was beautiful."

"Glad to be of service," her lips curled up into a smirk. "You have an interesting laugh."

Shizuka flushed again and threw one of the couch pillows. Natasha caught it and tucked it under her head while she stretched out. Popping her feet into Shizuka's lap, she changed the channel again.

Shizuka stared at her feet but didn't bother to remove them. This was the least she could do after being able to hear Shinichi make that _noise_.

Oh Kami, she was laughing again.

-00-

"Two scoops of mint," Shizuka held up two fingers as she looked down through the glass at the tubs of ice cream. Natasha was already past the register with her chocolate cone.

The worker gave her two generous spoonfuls on her cone and handed it to her after she paid.

"This is good," Natasha commented as they walked out and towards the park.

"The best," Shizuka agreed. "No matter where I try theirs is always the best."

"Hmm, I've tried better," Natasha smirked.

"You're just picking a fight."

Instead of dignifying that with a response Natasha reached out and grabbed her free hand that had been swinging at her side. Shizuka looked at her curiously when she laced their fingers together.

The taller woman nodded towards a familiar couple headed their way down the opposite side of the street.

Shinichi looked up from where he was talking with Ran and caught sight of his sister. His eyes trailed down to their entwined fingers and his face flushed. Grabbing Ran's arm he turned down the nearest side street and away from them.

Shizuka chuckled into her ice cream.

"He is very easily flustered," Natasha twisted her cone to catch a drop before it could fall.

"It makes things more fun that way."

It took Shizuka longer than it really should have to realize they were still holding hands ten minutes later. Natasha didn't seem bothered by it though so she left it as it was. For now, her mint ice cream had all of her attention.

-00-

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Shizuka leaned against the doorframe with a frown. A taxi was out front and if she hadn't woken up from a nightmare so early in the morning she would have missed the spy's exit.

Natasha sighed. "I have to. I've got friends back home that need some help."

"You've got friends here too you know."

Natasha smiled at her. It was one of the rare ones where Shizuka could tell that it was truly genuine. She didn't get to see too many of those.

"I appreciate that. Maybe when everything is over, I'll come back."

 _'If it's ever really over,'_ Shizuka thought empathetically. Life was never that easy.

Natasha must have seen something on her face because her own softened in response. Stepping back towards the door and into Shizuka's personal space she flicked her forehead.

"Don't worry about it too much. I'll let you know when I land at least."

Shizuka grabbed her shoulder before she could turn away, eyes serious. "Stay safe Tasha."

Natasha looked towards the cab thoughtfully, not meeting her gaze. A second later she was right in front of her face, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

There was a choking noise behind her as Shinichi turned the corner with a glass of water. He averted his eyes quickly and rushed up the stairs.

"See you later Shizu."

Shizuka watched her go with wide eyes, one hand rising to brush across her lips. Natasha waved as she drove away and all she could do was give a dazed lift of the hand in return.

That was…

Interesting.

 **Smooth moves Tasha. Very smooth.**

 **Hope you guys like it! I didn't add in the damaged vocal cords this time even though the BO had been taken down cause I'm still not sure if that'll be a thing (but I like the idea). Plus I wanted Shizuka to reveal her dork laugh.**

 **Hope it matched up to expectation OTrizy! Next one will be up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4: Drowning

**Prompter: OTrizy**

 **Prompt: Shizuka getting hurt very badly and protecting Ran, even when she didn't need to and she is so drowsy/high on hospital drugs and asks for a kiss from Ran.**

 **Pairing: Shizuka (OC)/ Mouri Ran (Detective Conan)**

 **Notes: This is set right after the take down of the Black Organization.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-00-**

Everything was blurring together. The sky was supposed to be dark, she knew that. Somehow she knew it was nighttime but everything was so bright. She couldn't be inside because it was raining, the droplets hitting her skin proved that, so why was it so bright?

Red and blue lights blinded her when she tried to open her eyes, and eventually she felt so tired that even trying just wasn't worth the hassle. Whatever was going on someone else was going to have to deal with it because she wasn't even sure if she could sit up anymore.

"S-Shizuka," a soft voice cracked painfully to her left. It was difficult to hear past the roaring in her ears but it was definitely there and it was familiar.

Gathering all of the energy she had left (which was pathetically little) she cracked one eye open and forced it to stay that way until the blurs began to morph into shapes. She was moving. Something white was underneath her and she was moving somewhere. Ran was next to her with red-rimmed eyes and blood on her face.

Shizuka blinked dazedly, reaching up to brush it off. Blood didn't look right on Ran.

Her hand was caught when it fell halfway to its destination. Ran sniffled, bringing her hand closer as she walked next to her.

"Shizuka, why?" she croaked. "Why did you do that?"

Do what? What happened? Was Ran hurt? Where was Shinichi? Was he hurt too? Was it the Black Organization? What was-?

Her vision tunneled swiftly, leaving a heavy static to cling to her body and nausea roiling in her stomach. Choking on her own breath she tried to force it away but it was too strong.

Ran's voice echoed in the distance, panicked, but she couldn't respond.

She was falling.

-00-

It was too bright again. That was the first thing she noticed. Even with her eyes closed the white light was burning through her eyelids and making multi-colored spots dance among the black. Next was the beeping. It was loud and too close to her ear. The longer it went on, at even intervals, the more her head hurt.

Something was weighing her down. Her left arm was free, thankfully, but when she tried to move it she found she could only twitch the tips of her fingers. It was like every muscle was weighed down and shoved under water.

Kami she hoped she wasn't drowning. That would be a really shitty way to go. Was there a good way to go? Quickly, probably. But there were a lot of quick deaths that were still bad. Like guillotine. That shit was messed up.

"Shizuka?" a soft call caught her attention in the fog of her mind. It had cracked with exhaustion, like the person had just woken up from a short nap that was supposed to have been a full eight hours sleep.

Her fingers twitched again and the beeping changed a bit. She wasn't sure if that was better. Random beeping where she wouldn't know when the next one was coming, or timed beeping that never ended. Neither sounded good. Yuck.

"That's right Shizuka, wake up," the voice was hopeful.

She was awake. Obviously. Otherwise she wouldn't be thinking. Probably. Ai had mentioned something about thinking even when your brain wasn't actively awake. Or maybe she was dead. Because she drowned. What cured drowning? Was there a cure for that? She was pretty sure she learned about that once.

"Please," the voice was crying now. "Please wake up. I-It's been days Shizuka. _Please."_

Poor voice. Maybe they had the cure. Since they wanted her to wake up so bad then it would be like two fish with one hook if she managed it. Wait, that wasn't right. Two rabbits with one shot? Two criminals with one detective? She liked that last one. She chose that one as her new mantra. Did she have an old mantra? Maybe the voice would know.

"I don't know what to do," the voice sobbed. "Shinichi isn't answering his phone anymore a-and I don't know where he is but I-I can't tell him you might not wake up. You have to wake up Shizuka. I-I can't-!"

Ah. That's right. Drowning. Weren't you supposed to kiss for that? Or was that sleeping? Well she was doing both! What a coincidence, the voice would be happy to hear that. Oh, but how would she tell them? Could she talk if she was drowning? Maybe the air bubbles would pop and her words would be hidden in them. That made sense, right?

"K-," she tried and all of the sudden there was pain. Her throat burned, tearing through the fog in her mind and making her want to scream but she couldn't. Something was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

"Shizuka?!"

It _hurt_. Drowning shouldn't feel like this, at least she didn't think so. It didn't matter, she needed it to stop. It needed to stop!

"K-Ki-" she tried again, tears pooling in her eyes. And hey, she could feel her eyes again. That would have been cooler if the burning hadn't gotten worse.

"What? Shizuka, what are you saying? Doctor! Doctor, she's waking up!"

Doctor? Like Ai? She didn't have time for that, the pain was getting even worse!

"K-Ki-ss," she hissed out, throat erupting as the tears trickled down her face.

"K-kiss?" the voice asked, bewildered.

Thank Kami they had understood. Please, hurry. This was too much; she didn't know how much she could take. The beeping drowned out anything else the voice said and she panicked. Was the voice gone? Who would save her now? She couldn't save herself if she couldn't even move. Don't leave her here alone!

Something warm touched her lips at the same time something cool shot through the veins in her wrists. The two feelings merged, slowly but surely, and as time passed she felt the burning fade. With it came feeling. Her toes tingled uncomfortably, the feeling traveling up her leg to her knee, then her thighs, to her hips and chest, down her arms, up her throat, to her fingers, and through her brain. Finally it settled behind her eyes and she could move them again. A little bit at a time, but she could move.

Her eyelids fluttered rapidly, gradually gaining the strength to open. When she could finally peer out the lights had been dimmed and familiar blue eyes that sometimes looked purple in the right light looked back at her. At that moment they were a soft type of lavender.

"R-ra-," she tried to call out to her.

Ran covered her mouth gently, her lips wobbling as she smiled down at her. The whites around her eyes were blood shot and tears dripped off her face and onto Shizuka's.

Oh. Her name was Shizuka. That's why the voice, Ran's voice, had been calling her.

"Don't try to talk," Ran cried softly, holding onto her smile as best as she could. "Y-your throat, it got hurt really bad. If you t-talk, it will get worse okay?"

Shizuka blinked tiredly up at her. Where had all the water gone?

"Welcome back Shizuka," Ran's voice broke painfully. "We missed you."

She missed them too, although she wasn't sure where she had gone. Had Ran kissed her to save her? That was nice of her. Shinichi would be jealous. Ran was very warm.

Shizuka twitched the fingers of her left hand again. For some reason her right hand refused to respond but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that she was cold, and Ran was crying. She kept twitching her fingers until Ran looked at them. Slowly she reached out and took Shizuka's hand in her own. The warmth travelled up her arm and she closed her eyes in relief.

"Go ahead and rest Shizuka," Ran whispered, gripping her hand tighter. "I'll stay here."

Oh good. She wasn't sure what would happen if she were alone. Having Ran there was comforting and she was soon lulled into a more peaceful sleep. Before she drifted off she managed to curl her middle and ring finger down over Ran's hand, leaving the other three stretched out.

She hoped Ran understood.

There was a broken laugh. "I love you too Shizuka."

The words carried her off to sleep. Hopefully when she woke up things would be better.

 **Aw, Ran to the rescue! This is the direct after math of Shizuka getting the wound on her throat mention in the first one-shot. I'm really starting to like that idea so we'll see how that goes.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Thanks OTrizy!**


	5. Chapter 5: Sneeze

**Prompter: OTrizy**

 **Prompt: Not-so-first-meeting, low-key flirting mainly for reacquaintance but also to embarrass Conan/Avelia or everyone. (Take two!)**

 **Pairing: Kudo Shizuka (OC)/ Sera Masumi**

 **Notes: For Snapshot fans don't worry, I won't actually wait until this particular case to introduce Sera or her double in this chapter. Shizuka will meet them much earlier! I just really love this case. Hope you all (especially you OTrizy!) enoy!**

 **-00-**

Shizuka sniffed, twisting her tissue between her fingers. She hadn't brought her nice camera today, too worried that she would drop it accidently. Being sick was never fun. At least Avelia had left her alone for a while. Seeing Avelia first thing when she walked was only worsened when Inspector Nakamori appeared next to her so he could pinch her cheek painfully. Once she had glared at him (mentally promising a brutal revenge) Avelia descended upon her in a wave of worried looks and attempts to check her temperature. Luckily Nakamori had dragged him away shortly after so she didn't have to refuse to go home for at least ten times.

It had been awhile since she had been able to see her brother and it was her designated day off for the week (which meant she had to get sick, of course) so when he told her he was going to Kaitou Kid's heist she decided to tag along no matter how she felt. She had never been to one before, seeing as how the thief always gave back what he stole and no one ever got hurt at them. As long as murder and actual thievery were off the list she had little interest.

Still, they did sound fun. Shinichi really enjoyed them too, and if something could get her brother's mind off of the Black Organization then she was more than happy to encourage it. At the moment she was waiting for Ran to appear with her brother in tow. The large, dark blue hoodie she had on was doing a pretty good job of insulating her body heat, and the grey yoga pants were soft and comfortable, but nothing could get rid of the muggy feeling in her brain. She had even had to put her hair down because the ponytail was making her headache worse.

"There you are," Ran appeared at her left suddenly. Shizuka jerked away with a startled blink. "Sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you. We couldn't find you right away when we got here and I guess it was too loud for you to hear us when we called out for you."

"S'fine," she straightened. The cogs in her brain turned slowly, clicking into place at a snails pace. "…'we'?"

Ran smiled, although there was a worried crease between her eyebrows. "Sonoko-chan, Sera-san, and Conan-kun. They're waiting for us over there."

Shizuka looked towards where she was gesturing but with the sea of blue it was impossible to tell where the others were.

"I guess we have to go over there then," she sighed.

"You don't have to," Ran looked like she wanted to check her temperature. Shizuka took half a step away. "I can go get them and we can stand over here."

"No, no," she shook her head (instant regret) and stuffed her tissue into her pocket. "It's fine. Let's go."

Ran seemed more than unsure but she followed the small investigator as she pushed her way through the various officers in their way.

"There they are!" she pointed ahead of them.

Shizuka blinked slowly. Sonoko was easy enough to spot, with her peach shirt (tank top sweater thing. She knew the name, but it just… wasn't there in her brain. Apparently.) and purple leggings. The colors certainly stuck out when everyone else around them was wearing the same shade of blue. Except for the person next to her. Green pants, white button up shirt with a black vest, and a blue fedora were even more eye catching than Sonoko. The only one that blended in was her brother, although his height would be what drew odd looks instead.

"Shizuka-neechan!" he grinned when he spotted them. The smile fell a bit when they got closer. "You look sick."

"Rude," she sniffed again. Pulling out her tissue she rubbed at her already ruby red nose.

The stranger in the hat stepped forward with a lopsided grin. Shizuka found her gaze drawn to the rather sharp tooth that poked out of her smile. Like a puppy.

"You must be Kudo Shizuka. I've heard a lot about you," she stuck her hand out.

Shizuka stared at it before looking back at their face with growing confusion. They looked familiar but she couldn't quite place where she had met the other girl. And how did she know they were a girl? They could just be a feminine boy, or perhaps even transgender, and yet her mind latched onto that they were definitely a woman. Should she trust her brain right now? What if they were transgender and she insulted them by assuming otherwise? Did she know them?

Ugh, her brain was hurting again.

"Do I know you?" she asked, deciding to get that conversation out of the way even if only to stop the needless thinking. Realizing that the stranger still had their hand out she grabbed it (at an awkward angle, which was embarrassing) and shook it. "You seem familiar."

Shinichi was staring at her with that calculating gaze of his but she couldn't tell what she had said that would make him think something was off. The stranger laughed, an odd tone in their voice.

"Maybe," they shrugged. "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you. I'm Sera Masumi by the way."

That was a woman's name. Usually. So female pronouns? But she could just be assuming again. It would be better to wait until she was feeling better so she could ask tactfully instead of rudely and blunt.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she finally settled on.

"The pleasure is mine," Sera suddenly twisted her hand upward, bending over to lay a kiss on the back of her hand.

…Was that a common greeting where Sera was from? Or was this flirting? Should she flirt back? Would it be awkward if it turned out that kissing someone's hand was just a greeting?

"…Same?" it came out like a question. Pulling her hand towards herself, but keeping her hold on the other's hand, she returned the gesture.

Sera laughed.

"That's a new one!"

Shinichi was looking decidedly disgusted. Well, he would just have to suck it up. She could flirt with whomever she damn well pleased. Or greet them with hand kisses. He would survive.

"We've got about thirty minutes until eight," Sera glanced at their (her?) watch. "I'm going to run to the restroom while I've got the chance."

"Oh!" Sonoko reached out for them but Sera was already running the opposite direction. She cupped her hands over her mouth to make her voice travel further. "The nearest restroom was crowded! Your best bet is to use the one on the second floor!"

Ran looked at her friend curiously. "When did you have time to go to the restroom Sonoko?"

"When we were touring around the museum and looking for Shizuka," she explained. "Didn't you notice?"

While the two girls started talking about everything they had seen in the museum Shizuka sat down next to her brother so she wouldn't have to squat for a long period of time in order to stay eye level with him.

"If you're sick you could just go home," he pointed out, noting the dark bags under her eyes and the paleness of her skin.

"It's just a cold," she waved away his concerns. "Nothing I can't handle."

He gave her a narrowed eyed look, which she returned readily.

"I've missed you," she stated bluntly, the sentimental phrase only slightly ruined by the scratchy sound of her voice. "If I leave we can't talk."

He looked away, cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "…I hate it when you're sick. You always say embarrassing things."

"Love you bro."

"Shhh!" he waved his hands around, making her laugh.

Sera made their reappearance ten minutes before the designated time. Outside the museum the crowd that had gathered to see Kaitou Kid started cheering loud enough to be heard from the inside.

"How much longer until Kid shows up?" Sonoko asked excitedly.

Ran smiled at her friend and pulled out her phone. "Let's see… huh?" she stared at the screen in shock. "What?"

Shizuka looked up from where she was playing rock paper scissors to pass the time. Inspector Nakamori's loud laughter drew her short attention span away almost immediately after.

"Is something happening?" she coughed right as the floor directly in front of the aquarium holding the jewel rose up from under them.

Ran and her brother had been just at the edge of the movable floor but the rest of them were not so lucky.

Shizuka was about to seriously regret sitting down when Sera reached down and quickly pulled her up so that she was standing. All of the people captured by the trap were pushed flat against the glass with no way of wriggling free.

Of course that was the moment her nose decided to sneeze. Unfortunately the tip of her nose was being pushed down forcibly against the aquarium so that when she did sneeze it felt like it backfired right into her brain.

"Guh," she groaned. Squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to mentally combat the nasty feeling she almost didn't notice the hand that brushed over her shoulder.

"Are you okay Kudo-san?" Sera slid their hand over the glass to check on her. Their height difference made their hand slide right over her head though.

"Shizuka," she grumbled huffily. "Just Shizuka. I'm fine. Ugh."

He looked unconvinced.

…He? Hadn't she convinced herself that Sera was most likely a woman? What was wrong with her brain today? This flip-flopping was just making things worse.

The cloth floor at their back suddenly slackened, allowing everyone to slip out. Shizuka stumbled her way out and beelined for the corner she had been in before. She needed a serious moment to regain her senses.

It took a few deep breaths, rattling coughs, and unconfined sneezes to feel at least remotely like herself again. Once she was ready to return she had to stop and blink a few times at the sight of Sonoko passed out against the aquarium with her brother standing in front of her. He had his bow tie lifted up to his face a bit and while he was turned away from them she could tell where this was going.

"Ran's breasts are the real deal!" Sonoko's voice shouted suddenly. "She isn't hiding anything."

Oh yeah, that was totally her brother.

"The person hiding the turtle is the man who, before the body checks, had his cheek pinched and was shown not to be KID in disguise," he stated. It was weird hearing Sonoko's voice sound so serious. "It was none other than Jirokichi-ojisama!"

Everyone in the vicinity turned to the old man with shocked faces.

She was so lost. Had she missed something important? Jirokichi had been the one to grab the turtle (which had apparently been trapped by a magnet because of the jewel placed on its back?) but he wasn't Kaitou KID and the jewel wasn't real to begin with? But KID had definitely been there because he shot a card at the old man's feet to let him know he had figured out the trick. That seemed about right. Right? Kami she needed sleep.

"Shizu," Shinichi tugged at her hand to get her attention.

"Huh?" she looked around. Everyone was clearing out. "Is it over already?"

Her brother sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, it's over. Let's go home."

"Okay," she agreed happily. "Want to come over and watch a movie?"

The smile on his face was fond, even though his words were sarcastic. "Sure."

"Kudo!" Avelia ran over to them before they could leave. "Are you actually planning on going home this time?"

The cold was to blame for the childish way she stuck her tongue out at him. Really, it was.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, ruffling her hair. She smacked his hand away weakly. "I'll walk all of you out at least. KID might not have taken anything but he's probably still around."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes.

As the small group headed outside Ran tried asking Sonoko for more information about the heist but the blonde girl couldn't recall anything else past what she had said earlier. Shizuka wondered if the sleeping dart could help her fall asleep later on. She'd have to ask.

"Could you all wait for me for a second?" Ran asked from a little ways ahead of them.

"If it's a bathroom trip I'm coming too!" Sonoko looped arms with the taller girl as the sped up.

Shizuka, Shinichi, Avelia, and Sera stopped walking and shifted towards the wall to wait.

"Hey," Sera drew their attention, "don't you think your deduction from earlier was a little incomplete?"

"Hm?" Shinichi tilted his head.

"Well," he (why was she so certain he was a boy now?) tapped his chin," wouldn't the long necklace have hung below the magnetic plaque? Someone would have seen it."

"KID himself probably had a strong magnet himself," the small boy shrugged. "He would have used it to draw the end of the necklace up and around so it was hidden too."

Sera frowned. "When would he have had time to do that?"

Shinichi grinned. "When the tank was covered by the carpet of course! Everyone was all tangled up so if he had made any weird movements it wouldn't have been noticed."

Shizuka blinked. "Is that so?" she drawled slowly. Avelia looked down at her with a curious glint in his eyes.

"If you need more evidence," Shinichi continued, grinning wider at the bewildered expression on Sera's face, "do you remember when Ran-neechan pulled out her phone? The screen had been dark right? That was because someone was standing near her with a strong magnet and her phone stayed off because the magnetic pull made it think it was closed."

"But," Sera looked up thoughtfully, "the person standing closest to Ran-chan at the time was-"

"Me," Shinichi interrupted, his grin turning sharp, "and Sonoko, and you. Kaitou KID."

Sera looked between the three of them. Shinichi was beaming victoriously, Shizuka staring back with dazed interest, and Avelia with a thoughtful tilt of the head.

"Huh," he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Shifting on the balls of his feet he edged away from Avelia in case the man lunged for him. "When did you work out it was me?"

"The magnet," he said simply. "And the body checks."

"Really?" KID looked down at himself. "I didn't think my figure was that different…"

Shizuka snorted.

"Sera-san is a girl," Shinichi laughed impishly.

KID pointed at himself incredulously. "You mean that this guy is a _girl?"_

"Yup!" he chirped. Shizuka felt much better now. No future embarrassment would come from calling Sera the wrong gender. "Anyway, you helped us out on the Bell Train Express, and you didn't steal anything this time so I'll look over everything for just today." His eyes drifted behind KID's shoulder. "…I will, at least."

"Huh?" KID followed his gaze.

Sera Masumi came flying through the air in high-rise shorts and a tank top that showed off her stomach, one leg tucked to her chest and the other stretched out in front of her. The heel of her bare feet collided with the side of KID's face, sending him spiraling to the ground.

Shizuka blinked, one hand rising to hover over her chest.

"…That was a beautiful kick."

Avelia took one look at her heart-struck expression and laughed.

Sera looked up, her anger temporarily forgotten, and flashed a tooth filled grin. "Thanks," she thumbed under her nose.

"Sera-san!" Ran came running around the corner with a towel in her hands, Sonoko giggling behind her. "You're underwear!" she whispered fiercely.

KID wasted no time in hopping out the window and unfurling his glider.

"Damn it!" Sera growled. If she had her shoes on her she would have thrown one at him. "I'll get you back for this!"

"Sera-san," Ran sighed in exasperation, her cheeks tinged pink. "Why were you in the men's restroom to begin with?"

"Oh," Sera snagged the clothes Sonoko had brought with them. Slipping on the pants she explained. "The line to the women's bathroom was way too long. I didn't want to miss the show. Besides, I look pretty boyish so no one stopped me!"

Shizuka tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "…Where'd you learn that kick?"

Sera's face lit up. "My br- uh, family! They taught me a lot of self defense moves which means I get to do a lot of cool stuff sometimes."

If she had been in her right mind Shizuka would have left it at that. Instead, all of her mental and physical filters had been dulled or destroyed.

"I bet," she hummed lightly, looking the other girl up and down appreciatively. Sera's abs were very prominent in that shirt.

"Ugh," Shinichi gagged.

Avelia gave a startled laugh while Ran and Sonoko flushed red. "Very smooth Kudo," he roared, patting her heavily on the shoulder.

Sera blinked, her cheeks tinged red. "Thanks," she scratched the back of her head nervously.

Shizuka sneezed. "…I want to go home."

That came off way more pathetic than she wanted it to. Awesome.

Ran laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and motioned for everyone to start walking again. "Let's get you home. You really shouldn't have come out tonight."

The garbled noise that statement got in return sounded like an odd mixture of whining and apathy.

Avelia trailed behind them, coming to walk side by side with Sera.

"I don't think we've met," he smiled down at her. "I'm Avelia."

"Sera Masumi. I've heard about you too sir," she nodded respectfully.

"I hope to hear more about you later," he chuckled, sending a pointed look towards the sickly investigator in front of them.

"U-uh," she flushed.

"No pressure," he scratched his beard as he talked. "But definite encouragement!"

Narrowed blue eyes peered back at them as his voice rose. "I don't know what you're saying back there," Shizuka croaked, "but it better stop. Stay out of my life Avelia."

The robust man widened his eyes innocently. "I would never."

Shizuka flipped him off.

Sera snickered at the man's affronted expression. She knew things would be interesting once she started hanging around the Kudo family, but this was more entertaining than she had thought it would be.

Things were going to be fun.

 **Not gonna lie, I feel like I could have written this a lot better but for the life of me I couldn't reword it to make the effects I wanted. Constructive cricitcism is greatly appreciated.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: 9 months of pain

**Prompter: LovelySakrua777 (Happy Birthday dearie! I hope your day is as awesome as you are!)**

 **Prompt: Shizuka and Furuya Rei are married and Shizuka is several months pregnant; Shinichi and Rei are so overprotective and taking care of her that they start driving her mad even though she thought it was cute at first. It comes to the point where she's ready to hurt them.**

 **Notes: For the Birthday Lord/Lady/Other Form of Being! This is a continuation of the last Rei/Shizuka prompt where they decided to give their relationship a try just much further along in the future.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-00-**

"Coffee," Shizuka stumbled towards the fresh pot on the counter, her words coming out as a garbled mess. Morning were still not a thing she enjoyed, which was why she always needed to wake up an hour and a half before she needed to leave for work in order to energize herself.

Before she could even reach her hand out for the handle of the pot a steaming mug of her favorite drink was lifted into her field of vision.

Rei chuckled when she snatched it from him happily.

"Good morning to you too," he motioned towards the table.

"M'rning," she gulped down half the mug as they took their seats. Once the first shot of caffeine hit her tongue she noticed the small breakfast set out before them. Clearing her throat and rubbing it to prepare for talking so early in the morning she managed to croak out a complete sentence. "I'm pretty sure it was my turn to make breakfast."

"Nope," he disagreed as he picked up his chopsticks. "You did dinner, remember?"

She sipped at her drink slower, thinking back to the night before. It had been a long day, but she had still gotten home before Rei, so she had gone through the motions of preparing their meal without actually realizing it.

"Oh yeah," she breathed. The scar on her throat still burned first thing in the morning but the more she used her voice the less it pained her throughout the day. She was still unable to speak louder than a harsh whisper but Agasa had given her an altered version of her brother's bowtie that allowed her to sound normal. Rei preferred hearing her actual voice though so she usually forgoes putting on the silver ribbon necklace until she left for work. "You make better breakfast foods anyway."

"I disagree," he muttered around a mouthful of omelet.

Deciding to skip over their usual morning argument about who was the best chef she dug into the warm food in front of her and mentally went through her day.

Megure would need her to finish documenting all of the witness statements from the murder the other day, and then she was supposed to tag along with Takagi since Miwako was out sick for the next three days. She had caught some kind of bug that was going around the precinct that knocked you down for nearly a week but was manageable as long as you stayed hydrated. Hopefully Takagi had gotten over his fear of her ever since she had given him an adapted version of the 'shovel talk' after he had proposed to her female detective friend.

"Big plans for the day?" Rei wondered.

She sent him a small smile. "Not really. I'm following Takagi around, which will be interesting."

"Satou-san is still sick?" he asked and she nodded while finishing off her side of mini waffles (ever since she had them when she was twelve they were a constant presence in the household). "I'd ask you to make sure to take care of yourself more so that you don't catch it but I'm pretty sure that will just attract the germs to you the second you walk through the door."

"Good thing you didn't ask then," she smirked before reaching across the table and idly playing with his fingers. "What about you? You get off early today right?"

"Mmhmm," he twisted their fingers together, tossing his last bit into his mouth with his free hand. "Maybe I'll drop by with lunch later."

"Sure," Shizuka agreed readily, "but make sure to call first. I might be out on a case and I'd hate for a repeat of last time."

He laughed. "I didn't wait for that long."

"It was midnight Rei."

"Alright, alright," he squeezed her hand lightly, thumb tracing over the silver band on her ring finger. "I'll call first."

"Good," she squeezed back before letting go so she could gather up the plates. "Now go get ready."

He helped her drop everything in the sink to rinse off, giving her a peck on the cheek as he disappeared down the hall.

Once the dishes were clean enough to toss in the dishwasher she followed after him. If she didn't hurry they wouldn't be able to walk to the café together.

-00-

Rei blinked blearily up at the ceiling at three in the morning. He had been having a nice, dreamless sleep so he wasn't entirely sure what had woken him up.

Yawning, he turned over to check on Shizuka. Her side of the bed was empty, the sheets thrown back haphazardly. When he ran his hand over where she had been laying they felt cold to the touch.

Kicking off his own blankets he began searching for his wayward wife. It wasn't abnormal for her to be awoken by a nightmare and be unable to fall back asleep. Usually he would find her in the library with a cup of hot chocolate, wrapped up in the fluffy blue robe he had gotten her last year. Sometimes she would be over at the Professor's house but those days had become rare.

Halfway towards the stairs he heard her.

A hoarse retching sound echoed from the closed door of the bathroom down the hall. A worried crease settled between his eyebrows as he approached the door and knocked softly on the wood.

"Shizu? Can I come in?"

A few moments passed and he was about to knock again in case she hadn't heard him over the sound of her dry heaving but before he could there was a series of three softer knocks from the other side of the door. Twisting the doorknob he nudged it open and slid inside.

Shizuka had her hair pulled back with a clip, although most of the strands had escaped her rushed attempt and were now matted across her face and neck due to the cold sweat that was covering her skin. She was sitting back on her thighs, back hunched over the toilet while her arms shakily wrapped around the porcelain bowl.

"Hey," he kneeled down. Undoing the clip in her hair he worked on pulling all of the loose pieces back together and redoing the clasp so that it stayed out of her face.

She shot him a grateful glance from the corner of her eye before her body convulsed and she was dry heaving again. It echoed painfully in her throat and he could tell from the stuttered hitches in her breath that it was causing an extreme amount of pain to her damaged vocal cords. Tears pricked the edges of her eyes and he could feel his gaze soften sympathetically.

Once her stomach calmed down for a moment he lifted her up enough to slide her legs out straight and settled in behind her. Scooting forwards he set her back down on his legs so she could still reach the toilet with ease but her back was resting against his chest. She breathed heavily and turned to press her nose into his neck. Rei tightened his grip when he felt the heat coming off of her.

Closing her shaky fingers into a fist, she rubbed in a circle over her chest. 'Sorry.'

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he used the sleeve of his green, button up sleeping shirt to wipe away the sweat from her face. "You should have woken me up if you were feeling sick."

'No time,' she signed tiredly, her breathing slowly starting to return to normal. There was a worrying rattling sound he could hear with every breath she took. 'Sorry.'

"It's okay," he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Do you think we can take you back to the room or do we need to stay here for awhile more?"

'Stay,' she massaged her throat with a pained grimace. 'Still nauseous.'

"Okay," he ran his hands up and down her arms in attempt to work some warmth back into her body. "Let's stop by the Professor's in the morning and have Hell's Angel take a look at your throat."

'Still call her that?' Shizuka smiled weakly up at him.

He grinned back. "It's true isn't it? Now stop signing," he grabbed her hands in his before she could reply. "Rest."

Any other time she would have argued with him. Made a sarcastic quip followed by a cheesy line to show she was joking. His worry increased when all she did was close her eyes and rest more heavily against him.

-00-

"It's been more than a week," Rei informed Shinichi when the young man came to visit. Haibara had most likely told him what was going on. "Either she got hit worse than anyone at the station or this is something else."

Shinichi's eyes trailed over towards the stairs leading to the second floor of the Kudo mansion. Shizuka had been bedridden for nine days already and didn't seem to be getting much better.

"What are all of her symptoms?" he stretched his leg out in front of him to relieve the ache around his knee. It didn't usually bother him much anymore but there had been a massive climate change over night and he had been feeling it all day.

"Nausea was the biggest concern," Rei sighed. "It was causing her a lot of pain and we were worried it would damage her throat further. Haibara manage to lessen that and as long as she's careful with how fast she drinks or what she eats we can control that pretty regularly, but the amounts she can handle are so limited that she can't regain any strength. She gets an on and off fever but Haibara said it was most likely from the stress her throat was under those first few days. Other than that her energy levels are always very low and she says her limbs ache all the time."

Shinichi hummed worriedly in the back of his throat. Both Shizuka and himself had not been prone to illness before, although after he had gotten his body back sickness became a constant companion for him as his immune system worked to get back up to snuff. The only time Shizuka had been severely sick was when she was thirteen and she had gotten pneumonia after jumping into the freezing cold lake at the park in order to save a little boy's pet that had fallen in.

"Does Haibara have any idea what's wrong?" he asked his sister's husband. He had never fully approved of Rei, with reasonable doubts from their interactions in the past, but the man clearly cared for his sister dearly. Their relationship had grown friendlier after the pair's marriage and Shinichi became convinced that he would care for Shizuka properly.

"Not yet," Rei shook his head. "But she told me she was going to run some tests today to check out a theory. She'll let us know tonight. I left everything you'll need to watch over her in our room. Anti-nausea pills are every four hours while the pain relievers are every eight."

"Got it," Shinichi nodded, memorizing the information.

Rei wasn't able to take any more time off of work without getting in trouble and Shizuka had been furious once she realized he was shoving work to the side to take care of her for so long. He didn't want to leave her, not when she was like this especially, but she had practically demanded that he get out of the house for some fresh air and to take his mind off things. The small lecture had taken a lot out her already weakened reserves so he had agreed rather quickly and called her brother to watch her while he was gone.

"You should probably get going," Shinichi glanced at the clock and rose from his chair. He had brought his cane along in case his knee got worse before it got better but it was feeling fine enough so it remained untouched at the entrance. "I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thanks Conan-kun," he smirked.

Shinichi scowled at him, deigning not to respond and rise to the bait. Once Rei was out the door he stopped by the library to snag a few books before trekking up the stairs to his sister's room.

Shizuka was breathing softly, her face relaxed in sleep. He took note of the paleness of her skin and deep bags under her eyes. Plopping down into the chair next to her side of the large bed he checked the cloth over her head, rewetted it in the bowl of water on the side table, and replaced it carefully. Shizuka sighed softly when the cool cloth soothed the burning skin.

Double-checking to make sure everything was okay he set a timer on his phone to go off in two hours so he could wake her up for her medicine and flipped open to the first page of the book he had brought with him.

An hour and a half later the doorbell rang.

Shizuka groaned weakly, her face contorting in pain when the action agitated her throat. Shinichi reached out and ran his hand over her forehead to smooth out the wrinkles that were undoubtedly underneath the cloth. Once she had settled again he hurried down the stairs before whoever was there could try again.

"Kudo-kun," Haibara Ai stared up at him blankly when the door opened. "So she finally managed to kick the mother hen out then."

"Haibara," he greeted. "Did you finish your tests?"

There was an odd little smirk twisting her features that he did not like one bit. "Yes. I need to speak to Shizuka."

He stepped back so she could enter. "I was just about to wake her up for her medicine actually. We can-"

"Alone," Ai cut him off abruptly, staring him down when he stopped.

He could feel his lips twist downward steeply. "Why?"

"A lady's secrets are her own. If you need to know then she'll tell you when I'm done," Ai stood her ground. She had gotten taller again, having hit a growth spurt a few weeks ago and with that new height came even more stubbornness (which he hadn't thought was possible).

"Fine," he huffed, crossing his arms. "But don't take too long. She needs to rest."

Her expression didn't change but the way she turned on the heel of her foot, head tilted up at a slightly higher angle than usual, gave him the distinct impression she was mocking him.

…He hated when she did that.

It took Haibara a total of forty-five minutes to finish up whatever discussion she had wanted to have with the bedridden investigator. Shinichi had stayed by the door, grabbing his cane and pacing back and forth to stop himself from snooping. Shizuka always knew when he was eavesdropping, sick or not, and they had come to an agreement to be truthful with one another. If whatever the mad scientist was telling her was important then she would let him know.

"She'll start feeling better in a couple of days," Haibara made her reappearance. The sudden voice made him startle slightly but he recovered quickly. "By Monday she should be well enough to get back to work but I recommended waiting until next Wednesday before letting her do anything too strenuous. The rest she can tell you herself."

Shinichi felt his heart rise with hope. "You know what's wrong with her?"

"Clearly," she slipped her shoes back on, tapping her toe on the ground to adjust their grip on her feet. "She will need to come by every few weeks for another check up until everything is over and done with. I'll make up a schedule so you and Bourbon can remind her in case she forgets."

"If she is going to get better soon then why does she need to have more checkups so far apart from each other?" he frowned.

Ai shot him a knowing look. "That's up to her to tell you. Have a good day Kudo-kun."

Shinichi grumbled under his breath while she left. Even after all of these years she remained as cryptic as ever. He had never appreciated it when they had first met, and he still hated it now.

Pushing his problems with the short scientist aside he rushed back up the stairs.

Shizuka was still lying down, although her eyes were wide open and staring at the ceiling.

"Shizu?" he called uncertainly. The look on her face was a mix of too many emotions to place.

"Shi-ni-chi," she hissed out, eye twitched as the letters caught on the edges of her throat on the way out.

"What is it? Are you okay?" he leaned over her, scanning her face for any hints as to what was wrong.

"Ho-oly. Sh-hit."

The covers shifted as she lifted her arms so she could press the palms of her hands into her eyes. Then, as though a dam had been released, she began to cry.

"Shizu?!" he panicked. "Shizu, what's wrong?!"

The cries grew heavier, turning from whispering wheezes to pained squeaks like a broken toy and no matter how hard he tried to get her to calm down she continued to break down in front of him.

-00-

"Thank you," Shizuka whispered as the bowl of soup was set on the tray she held in her lap.

"Of course," Rei slipped into bed next to her and leaned back to relax. The day had been long and he had rushed home to make her lunch before she could attempt to sneak out of bed. It had been three days since Haibara's visit and the new medicine she was taking was doing wonders but her worrywart of a husband kept insisting that she rest for longer than she thought was necessary. "How are you feeling?"

"Better every day," she croaked, sipping slowly at her meal. "I walked around the house for a bit and got a little bit of work done before I took a nap."

She rolled his eyes when his lips pursed in a half pout.

"I'm fine Rei. It wasn't life threatening."

"Could have fooled me," he looked so serious when he said it that she had to look away.

Tapping her spoon against the rim of her bowl she forced herself to take a steadying breath.

"You've met my parents."

It was whispered even quieter than usual, and he almost missed it. Taken aback by the sudden statement he turned to face her, tucking an arm under his head as he did so.

"Yeah, of course. A few times."

"What do you think of them?" she tried to keep her voice light. No reason to make him more suspicious than he already was.

Rei blinked. "We've had this conversation before, I'm pretty sure."

"No," she sighed, frustrated, but more so with herself than with him. "Not what do you think of them as people. What do you think of them as… as parents?"

That threw him for a loop.

"Honestly?" he wondered and she nodded firmly even though she was still refusing to meet his eyes. "They're not the worst. They care for you and your brother a lot and they clearly taught you both to have a strong sense of duty and morals. You both turned into amazing adults, and that was in part thanks to them."

"But?" she encouraged him when he hesitated.

"But," he drew the word out as though to stall, "I don't think they're the greatest parents out there. They taught you guys independence, sure, but only because they left you alone all the time. They encourage you to solve your own problems by never getting involved in them. They told you that they'd always be there for you if you ever needed help even though you spent your entire childhood believing you had to solve them yourself which meant you would never feel comfortable admitting problems to them and they just left that as it was even though they are definitely smart enough to notice. I don't want to say they were neglectful, there are plenty of worse parents out there and I'm not in any position to judge, but with the great kids that they have I don't think it would have been all that hard to be a little more involved in you and your brother's life. A lot of the self confidence issues you have are because of them so-," he shrugged, the topic clearly something he had thought about a lot.

Shizuka appreciated his honesty. She had often thought the same things, but she usually pushed the thoughts to the side with the belief that she was just being bitter and clingy. Shinichi felt the same way and they worked together to understand their parent's ways in hopes that in finding a reason they would feel better.

None of the reasons ever managed to do the trick.

Her next question would be a lot harder to hear the answer to.

"Do you-," she breathed through her nose when her courage flagged suddenly. These emotional flip-flops were starting to irritate her. "Do you think I am similar? To them."

Rei was starting to get worried. "Well, in some ways I suppose. All kids take after their parents even if they don't want to."

Shizuka closed her eyes, the words hitting her like a stone.

"You definitely inherited your mother's love for dramatics," he laughed and her eyes opened to look at him for the first time throughout the entire conversation. "And the way you look at others, like you're dissecting them, is exactly how your dad looked at me the first time I met him. You love travelling too, although in a far lesser amount then they do." He reached over and wrapped his long fingers over the ones holding her spoon. "You got all the good parts, and added even more as you went. Whatever flaws you do have you are able to self reflect on and change, which is something they don't seem to have or don't bother to use so whatever you're worried about… stop. You're not your parents Shizu."

Her vision blurred as the backs of her eyes began to burn. Pulling away from Rei she moved the tray to the side table and turned her body to face him.

"Rei," she swallowed heavily, tugging him up so she could take both of his hands in hers. "Haibara told me what was wrong with me."

He straightened further, intently focused on what she was saying. She had refused to tell anyone what the shrunken woman had said, only able to cough out half-hearted promises of telling them when she was feeling better.

"I had the sickness that was going around the station," she started with the easiest part. "It hit me a bit harder but… that wasn't all that was wrong."

Rei nodded, fingers curling around hers as a silent encouragement.

Shizuka opened her mouth only to find herself at a loss for words. Her throat closed up, and whatever ability she had to speak before was suddenly gone.

Slowly, hesitantly, she lifted his hands and brought them closer. Rei followed willingly, if not a little confused until she placed them over her stomach and held them there. She sniffed, looking at him with searching eyes as he processed what she was doing.

"Are-," he choked, eyes flying wide open as he realized the significance of her actions. "Are you serious?"

His whisper had been even softer than her usually speaking voice. Fighting against the sharp lump in her throat she nodded. Rei's face was slack with shock, his hands still being held weakly in her own, and for once he seemed at a loss for what to do.

"Shizuka," he looked at her, the name falling off his tongue like it wasn't real. "Shizuka."

She nodded, letting go to brush off the small trail of wetness that had escaped her eye.

"Shizuka," he repeated again, pulling her in for a hug. She stuttered out a sigh of relief and returned the hug with ferocity. "Shizuka!"

She laughed, the sound scratchy and echoing oddly, but genuine.

-00-

Dear Kami they were going to be parents. She wasn't ready for this. She was never going to be ready for this! She hadn't even ever planned on having kids! Sure she liked them well enough, those Detective Boys of her brother's had a special place in her heart, but that didn't mean she wanted one of her own! She could barely take care of herself reliably with the job she had, how was she going to take care of a kid? Rei would be there to help, he made that very clear, but what if their kid got the stupid Kudo family luck? Or followed the same path she did? Or what if she had to choose between her love for her job and the new little life in their house? Would she be able to stop helping people without being overwhelmed with guilt, or continue helping whoever she could while leaving the little one behind just like-

"You're overthinking again," Shinichi flicked her forehead, jarring her out of her thoughts. They were walking through the park to help her get back her energy and she had dazed out while he was telling her about his most recent case.

"Sorry," she sighed. At least the park was mostly empty. It was quiet enough that she didn't have to turn on her necklace so he could hear her.

"Worried about being a parent?" he looked down at her knowingly.

She scratched the back of her head and nodded. It was a little weird, telling him all of her worries when she had worked so hard for years to keep him away from her less… happy thoughts. It definitely helped them have a stronger relationship though and for that she was grateful.

"I don't want to make the same mistakes Mom and Dad made," she explained and he nodded understandingly. "But I also don't want to leave my job behind. I like what I do and it helps people. It's dangerous and I make enemies, I'm away from home more often than I'm there, and getting hurt is a natural part of the job. How can I put a kid through that?"

Long conversations were never comfortable for her to get through but she had a heavy set of gloves covering her hands from the cold and she wasn't willing to take them off to sign yet. The cold hurt her throat but it made her feel more energized as well.

"You're not Mom or Dad," Shinichi nudged her with his shoulder. "And for me, them traveling all the time wasn't the problem. If I had a problem they didn't know about it was my own fault for not telling them so they could help. It was the times where they new something was wrong and left anyway that made me mad."

He had a point. It had been lonely when they left but they always accepted their calls and would usually return if they asked (not that they ever did) but when she had told them about things that were bothering her they focused on having her learn the lessons by herself. Not a bad thing, seeing as how she was very independent and capable of solving her problems by herself now, but she also had a lot of issues asking for help from anyone when she really needed it and never really trusted anyone to have her back even if she did ask them.

"Besides, you're not traveling for work anymore," Shinichi drew her from her thoughts again. "And you have a lot of people to help you. You don't have to give up one thing for the other, you just have to find the right balance."

"I'm still worried," she shoved her hands in her pockets, breath puffing out over the scarf wrapped around her neck and chin.

"All parents worry, I'm pretty sure," he yawned. "Ran and I will worry too when the time comes."

His cheeks were flushed from more than the cold when he said it and she let a teasing grin crawl over her face.

"So you two have talked about it then?"

"Yes," he scowled but there was no heat behind it. "I hadn't thought about it before, but Ran asked me to consider it and it doesn't seem like such a bad thought. I was worried about being like Mom and Dad too. I still am."

"You'd be a great dad Shinichi," she stepped closer to pull him into a side hug.

He returned it with an arm over her shoulders. "And you'll be a great mother."

They walked for a little while longer until the cold became too much for both her throat and his knee. Shizuka felt a small weight lift from her shoulder, taken alongside her brother's arm when he let her go. The worries were still there but they weren't threatening to drown her.

-00-

"Who do you think you are?!" the large woman jabbed her finger in Shizuka's face, making the small investigator raise a disinterested eyebrow. She had returned to work two days ago, under heavy protest from Rei, and already was being thrown back into the swing of things.

"Kudo Shizuka, consultant and private investigator. Please answer the question Kita-san," she folded her arms as a show of collectiveness and to keep her fist partially raised in case the woman came at her.

"Back off," Shinichi was suddenly in front of her, glaring the woman down until she stepped away.

Shizuka blinked. "Uh."

When had he even gotten there?

"I was having lunch with Ran," he replied to her questioning gaze. Ran appeared at his side, as though to prove his statement.

"Okay?" she tilted her head but shook it off. It was cute, how he was trying to defend her, and appreciated. She didn't really want to deal with a crazed, over-proud stranger again today.

-00-

"Good morning," Rei swooped down to kiss her cheek while setting out the trays of food he had made for breakfast.

Shizuka, having just woken up to breakfast in bed, smiled blearily up at him in thanks. He brushed her hair back fondly before joining her on the other side.

-00-

The businessman sent her a particularly nasty glare when she pointed out the flaw in his statement and as though he had been summoned Shinichi was there glaring right back.

"Shinichi?" she tilted her head, voice coming out clear and strong thanks to her necklace. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a question for Inspector Megure," he offhandedly replied. "I just got here, did anything happen?"

He had yet to take his eyes off of the man from earlier. Shizuka rolled her eyes fondly but filled him in on what was going on.

-00-

"I brought you lunch," Rei knocked on the door to Megure's office. Shizuka had just been starting to stand up and grab her stack of papers when he had entered. "Here, let me help with those."

"Oh," she brightened up at the sight of him and willingly handed over half of the stack. "Thank you. Once we're done I'll take my break."

Megure smiled at them as they left. Rei had been coming around a lot lately. He wondered why?

-00-

"What do you mean I'm reassigned to desk duty?" Shizuka glowered at Avelia from across his desk.

The man smiled gleefully at her, his hands tapping on the desk excitedly.

"I mean you won't be going out in the field until your baby is born," he informed her again, grin widening. "And why didn't you tell me?! This is great news!"

He was suddenly hugging her and she huffed out a small chuckled before patting his back. "I was going to tell you as soon as I was a little further along. Who even told you?"

"Oh, your brother," he laughed, leaning back to see her better. If she didn't know any better she would say he was even more excited about the prospective baby then she was. "He wanted to make sure you weren't pushing yourself."

"Is that so," she gave a tight lipped smile

-00-

"Rei," she sighed as he shoved his shoes on his feet. "You don't have to walk me to work. It's so far away, you might be late getting to the café."

"It's fine," he waved away her concerns. "Besides, it just means we get to spend more time together."

"Okay," she said slowly.

He stood up, grabbing her hat off the hook and tucking it gently over her head. "It's supposed to be cold today."

"Uh-huh."

-00-

It had only been four months and she was about ready to kill them. Somehow, someway, Shinichi or Rei always new when she got dragged into some kind of debacle (in her off time since she never left Megure's office at work anymore) and would appear to intervene even if she didn't need it. Rei made _every single meal_ , which went against their original living arrangement, and he refused to let her do any housework. It was a great break at first, but then she ran out of small things to do and boredom was strong. Her usual walks were now joined by one or both of them (since when did they get so close anyway?) and she couldn't even stand up to get something that was a few feet away from her without one of them magically appearing to grab it for her. It was sweet at first, but now she was a step away from loosing her mind.

The first few weeks had been fine. The information was still sinking in and she looked and acted the same after she recovered from her illness. Then she started gaining weight. All of the sudden they were panicking. Rei she could understand. He was going to be a dad; she was prepared for some craziness from him. Shinichi? Not so much.

Brothers were dumb.

Still, the overprotectiveness had been limited to the house and when she was with them. Until the first time she had burst into tears because Shinichi wouldn't go with her to get ice cream. That had been… embarrassing. After her melt down she had flushed in shame and apologized profusely for _sobbing_ about being unable to spend time with him. Rei had been in the kitchen and had heard the commotion. Apparently tears meant she needed a protective force.

At five months she built up the courage to tell her parents and it only got worse. Her Dad cried. A lot. Her Mom started giving her 'lessons' every day, telling her what to expect, what to do in certain situations, and how to be a good parent.

Those were the few times she still appreciated Rei and Shinichi's constant presence. They curbed the random bitterness that would crop up during those particular conversations.

The sixth month started rolling around and she started to fully realize all of the problems that came with being pregnant.

-00-

Babies were cute. They came with their own kit of problems, sure, but overall they were little bundles of adorable babbling and heartwarming smiles. Once they came into your life things turned brighter (even with the inevitable exhaustion that followed).

The problem was the things that had to happen before they could come into your life.

"Shizuka?" Megure looked up from his desk when she suddenly stood up from across the room.

"Don't mind me," she raised one hand to ward off his concerns, the other massaging the side of her stomach to relieve the pressure. "Just running to the bathroom."

He seemed torn. To be fair, before all of this, whenever she went to the restroom it ended up in her involving herself in some kind of incident. Chasing someone down, defusing bombs, extracting confessions, etc. Lately though she was going to the bathroom numerous times in the day and she didn't have time for detours because her bladder refused to wait for criminals to make their appearance.

"I'll be right back," she huffed, shuffling towards the door. A particularly harsh kick made her hiss. Shifting her hands towards the spot she kneaded it gently.

Today was one of the bad ones. She was uncomfortable from the moment she had woken up, and it only got worse as the day progressed. Haibara had warned her of how bad these days could get ahead of time but that did nothing to prepare her. Walking across the office area was a trial and a half and by the time she reached the bathroom doors she was out of breath.

"Ugh," she groaned, shoving her way in. This was her seventh bathroom break today and it wasn't even noon. She wasn't even counting the times that she finished washing her hands only to have to go again because she hadn't left the restroom so they didn't count.

And now she was sweating again. Awesome.

Once she had finished up and pushed back out to go to her desk she mentally tallied how many days she had left of this crap. Too many.

"Hey," a hand brushed gently against her elbow. The familiar voice made her groan. Rei smiled sheepishly. "I'm not stalking you today, promise. You left your water at home."

She narrowed in on the jug he was carrying and all she could focus on was the sudden feeling of sandpaper in her throat.

"Thanks," she reached for it, chugging down a few large gulps once he passed it to her.

"You feeling okay?" he held her other hand and brushed lightly over her stomach. "You didn't look so good."

She sighed heavily, exhaustion evident on her face. "It's one of those days."

"Ah," his eyes creased with sympathy and he leaned forward to kiss her head. "You want to head out early?"

Yes. So badly.

"No," she shook her head. "I have a few more things I need to do."

"Okay," he held her hand as they started walking. Usually she wouldn't want to show any displays of affection at work but right then she didn't give a damn. She wanted to hold her husband's hand and no one would stop her. "I'll keep you company until you're done and we can go back together."

"I love you," she smiled happily at him, lifting their hands to kiss the fingers entwined with hers.

"Love you too," he returned the gesture.

"D'awww," Toki's voice echoed over to them. Shizuka rolled her eyes.

Busybodies, the lot of them.

-00-

Kill her now. She couldn't take it anymore. Who cares if they were only a week from the prospective due date, this had gone on long enough!

She had taken the week off from work, tying it in with her leave, because the walk to the station every day was killing her. Rei was getting paternal jitters and wasn't sleeping well, her family was hovering like a bunch of flies with Ran as her only saving grace (but even she had her moments), and all she wanted was for everything to be over. At least Avelia kept bringing her cookies. Asides from Rei he was the highest in her good book.

A grumble sounded next to her. Twisting her head she ran a hand through Rei's hair until he fell back to sleep. Next to her side of the bed she had a collection of items to throw at anyone who dared to open the door. So far her Dad had gotten a book to the stomach, her mother a shoe to the shoulder, Agasa a pillow to the face, and her brother a nice helping of soup. Thankfully Rei had slept through each time. If they had woken him up there would have been hell to pay.

Another sharp pain made her groan. This was ridiculous. She was glad the little one was so energetic but couldn't they give her a break? She had almost fallen asleep.

…

"Rei," she slapped him, cursing her waspish voice. "Rei, wake up."

He grunted, lifting his head to squint dazedly at her. "Huh?"

She tapped the side of his face until his eyes were more aware.

"What's wrong Shizu?" he yawned widely, reactionary tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"Help me up," she demanded, shoving his shoulder. "Now."

"What?" he moved to follow her directions, although with a heavy frown of confusion and growing concern. "Why?"

"The baby is coming," she patted her stomach tellingly, gritting her teeth against a wave of pain. "Hurry the fuck up."

He rolled off the bed so quickly he fell over.

-00-

"Hey there sleepy head," Rei looked down at her with warm eyes and a soft curve to his lips.

"Fuck you," she croaked, closing her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," he laughed, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "You did great."

"Of course I did," she snipped, her bone deep exhaustion making her crankier than usual. It had been a long, long few hours.

"Of course," he agreed.

She almost fell asleep again before her brain caught up in time. "How is she?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"Sleeping beauty," the joy was clear in his voice. "She's prefect and healthy."

"Good," she sunk further into the sheets. "I want to hold her."

"They'll be done with her soon," he rubbed soothing circles into her hand. "I'll wake you up when they get here."

"Kay," she muttered, the letters melding together. "Love you Rei."

"I love you too," warm lips brushed over hers and she returned the kiss sleepily.

"You're a dad," her lips twitched, consciousness drifting.

"Yeah," he laughed nervously. "You're a mom."

"Yeah," she matched him. "Shinichi said… we'll be okay."

Rei was silent for so long she almost missed what he said. "You believe him?"

"I've got you," she tried to open her eyes to look at him but she couldn't. "I believe… just about any… thing at th…. is point."

His soft laughter soothed her into sleep. She couldn't wait to wake up again.

They still needed to fully settle on a name.

 **This was such a cute prompt! Loved it! Thanks for reading, and I hope you like your present LovelySakura777!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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